If you had to pick the two most influential articles that you read this year (could be from any year, you just have to have read them this year), what would they be?

One of my favorite parts about working with runners is that there is endless learning opportunities. I have a list of articles to read that would take me a month to get through, but these two below rose to the top of my list this year!

Below are the articles with brief summary and link. Please leave a comment here or in the Facebook group with your top 2 articles you read in 2020!

1. Moving Beyond Weekly “Distance”: Optimizing Quantification of Training Load in Runners Paquette et al 2020 (Think this is a free JOSPT article)
   • This clinical commentary discuss the enormous challenge in quantifying training load and why weekly miles is probably not the key. The articles discusses alternative methods including Session RPE and Acute to Chronic Workload ratios. Future research may look to more advanced wearables, but beware
   ...

I'm just going to say it...very few runners do a jumping program and that is a big mistake! There are some exceptions, but pretty much every runner should have jumping as a part of their training program (at least for some portion of time).

In this video I am going to share 3 determinants of running efficiency and how plyometrics are extremely effective in improving them. 

This is so important, that our Level 2 course teaches the Loading Level Assessment. Learn about how to assess and prescribe plyometrics that match the runner's current level. 

Please leave comments with your number one question about adding plyometrics to runners!!

A must watch interview for anyone who works with Ultra-runners or is looking to do an Ultra themselves! Geoff is a PhD from the University of Michigan who studies running biomechanics and physiology, and he is also an elite Ultra runner who just placed 5th at the JFK 50 miler. 

We unpack lots of great stuff in the interview including benchmarks for Ultra training, nutrition, recovery, and much more. Check out the show notes below and learn more about how to get in touch with Geoff:

2:11 JFK 50 Mile Race Report

13:38 What are benchmarks and key workouts to prepare for an Ultramarathon

16:23 Geoff’s primary workout that he does Saturdays during a training plan

19:00 How Geoff uses lactate testing to tailor his training paces

24:34 The breakdown of Geoff’s typical training week

29:44 What baseline fitness is needed to start an ultra plan and how long should an ultra plan last

31:30 The fundamentals that Geoff focused on to make him less injury prone during his training plan

40:30...

Ellen Davis RD, CSSD, LD is a Registered Dietician and a Board Certified Sports Dietician joining us to talk about Off-Season Nutrition!

Ellens shares how her personal experience as a collegiate runner that got injured because of training and nutrition mistakes turned into a career helping other runners avoid the same mishaps. 

In this interview we discuss:

• When is the best time to make nutrition changes (3:30)
• Top priorities for runners in the off-season (4:40)
• How to get runners to focus on nutrition in the off-season (5:32)
• Should injured and non-injured athletes look at nutrition differently (8:56)
• The role of stress and anxiety in nutrition and disordered eating (13:27)
• Challenging the idea of good and bad when it comes to food (17:05)

To learn more and get in touch with Ellen, you can find her on LinkedIN or email

Watch out for upcoming Nutrition Course from RunDNA!

Heart Rate Training offers a low cost way to measure the intensity of a workout....BUT it is not perfect. Knowing how your heart responds to exercise is important so that you are not over or under training. 

When creating training plans for runners, it is important that you (and them too!) understand cardiac drift. 

In this video we will talk about:

1. What Cardiac Drift is
2. The two main causes
3. How to reduce it
4. Tailoring workouts to avoid letting cardiac drift intterupt your fitness

References:

Colakoglu M, Ozkaya O, Balci GA. Moderate Intensity Intermittent Exercise Modality May Prevent Cardiovascular Drift. Sports (Basel). 2018 Sep 15;6(3):98. doi: 10.3390/sports6030098. PMID: 30223593; PMCID: PMC6162481.

Stanley J, Buchheit M. Moderate Recovery Unnecessary to Sustain High Stroke Volume during Interval Training. A Brief Report. J Sports Sci Med. 2014 May 1;13(2):393-6. PMID: 24790495; PMCID: PMC3990895.

Hamilton MT, Gonzalez-Alonso J, Montain SJ, Coyle EF. Fluid replacem...

When running specialists work with runners, we need to advocate for runners to change their habits to stay healthy. We often have the solutions, but it is on us to convince our runners that it is in their best interest.

In this blog I share an analogy I use and the way I explain how many runners get in a cycle of injury that I call "The Infinite Injury Loop".

Check out the video to learn the 4 habits to break the loop! Please share any analogies that you use to help your runners break the loop and stay healthy while running.  

Another Question Runners Ask (QRA) is what to do after their race. After just doing one of the toughest trail races I have ever done, I thought it would be good to share some recovery info. 

Check out the video and use the chart below to help guide your athletes on how/when to recover so that are ready to go for the next race!

Running Experts need to have all of the answers (or at least know where to find the answers!)

In this "Questions Runners Ask" (QRA) we talk about the research behind running when you are feeling sick. 

Learn the 5 recommendations when choosing to run or not.

Please share your own thoughts or tips in the comments below!

One of the most common stated running research is that prior injury is the biggest predictor of future injury. Why do you think that is?

Are we as professionals not rehabbing the injury well, or does the tissue take longer to recover than we think?

I had a personal experience with an injury that is a great example of why we should be looking at everyone's running gait after ANY injury. I looked at my form, and was shocked to see how it had changed.

Check out this week's video to see why after injury is the most important time to analyze running form.

Please post questions or comments below, or check us out on our Facebook Group

Learn more with our free Essential Elements of Running Course, or become a Certified Running Gait Analyst today!

I do a ton of consults.  All of our instructors do.  And part of doing consults is seeing trends and recognizing these more quickly to allow a rapid resolution.  I'd like to talk through a recent consult with some easy to take away points to help our ACL Reconstruction patients return to running.  

This consult was with a recreational runner who was just shy of 4 months post-op ACL Reconstruction.  She had been progressing well with no joint effusion and only minor deficits remaining.  Suddenly, she began to experience posterior knee pain when running and generally was just getting increasingly sore.  The treating therapist had to shut down the runner for a couple of weeks and then in conjunction with the surgeon decided to do a consult and get a second set of eyes. 

There are a ton of issues that can create the problem described here and fortunately, most of those looked good on her.  We found one glaring issue.  Her calf!  She struggled substantially to perform a unilateral calf ra...